Friday, January 31, 2014

Weekly Apologetics Bonus Links (01/17 - 01/24)

Here are this week's recommended apologetics links. Enjoy.
• Shopping via Amazon? If you use this link, a bit of your purchase goes to fund Apologetics 315. Thanks for those of you using the link, as it helps Ap315.
Canada here. UK here.

• Would you like to help with interview transcriptionIf so, contact Ap315 here.

Get these sorts of links and more by following on Twitter.
For daily post links, please follow on Facebook.

EPS Apologetics Conference 2013 MP3s

The Evangelical Philosophical Society's Annual Conference lectures from their 2013 conference are now available for download. They are only $1.99 each—a good deal for high quality material.

Download EPS Lectures here.
Enjoy.

[HT: Adrian]

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Marcia Montenegro Interview Transcript

The following transcript is from an Apologetics 315 interview with Marcia Montenegro. Original audio here. Transcript index here. If you enjoy transcripts, please consider supporting, which makes this possible.


BA: Hello. This is Brian Auten of Apologetics 315. Today I’m speaking with Marcia Montenegro. Marcia is a former professional astrologer for eight years, having formally studied astrology. She was also a member of various astrological societies, writing and speaking on the topic. She’s been involved in the New Age and occult and Eastern beliefs and practices, and these included participation in Tarot card reading, spirit contact, séances, astral travel and the like.

She has since become a Christian and renounced these practices. Now she has a unique perspective from which to reach out and minister to those caught up in the occult. She’s also author of Spellbound: The Paranormal Seduction of Today’s Kids.

The purpose of our interview today is to hear a bit more about Marcia’s story, find out what’s behind some of these practices, and how Christians can communicate Christ to those seduced by the occult.

Well, thanks for joining me today, Marcia.

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Terminology Tuesday: Modal Logic

Modal Logic: Study of reasoning about what must or might be the case, as well as what merely happens to be the case. The formalization of modal logic for the propositional calculus introduces special operators designating necessity and possibility (L and M). "It is necessary that p" (Lp) is interpreted to mean that p must be true in all possible worlds, and "It is possible that p" (Mp) that p is true in at least one possible world. On these interpretations,
Lp º ~M~p    is tautologous.1

See also: Modal Logic: An Introduction by Brian F. Chellas

1. Philosophy Pages.

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Book Review: Walking with God through Pain and Suffering by Timothy Keller

Life is tragic.

With that statement, Pastor/Author Tim Keller embarks on a study of evil and its ramifications in Walking with God through Pain and Suffering. As he notes, nobody can avoid troubles and it’s impossible to cope with them entirely on our own. We need help and the best help, Keller asserts, comes from God. However, while suffering drives some people to the Lord, it drives others away from him. Keller explains how and why God is trustworthy in the midst of pain.

The author presents his case in three parts. He begins with a theoretical look at the phenomenon of suffering and the variety of ways different cultures and religions throughout history have sought to deal with it. Whether moralistic in nature (Hindu), transcendent (Buddhist), fatalistic (Muslim) or dualistic (a battle between good and evil), these approaches to the subject see the world as both material and spiritual and suggest that something good can out of suffering, usually in terms of human improvement.

Friday, January 24, 2014

Weekly Apologetics Bonus Links (01/17 - 01/24)

Here are this week's recommended apologetics links. Enjoy.
• Shopping via Amazon? If you use this link, a bit of your purchase goes to fund Apologetics 315. Thanks for those of you using the link, as it helps Ap315.
Canada here. UK here.

• Would you like to help with interview transcriptionIf so, contact Ap315 here.

Get these sorts of links and more by following on Twitter.
For daily post links, please follow on Facebook.

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Ron Rhodes Interview Transcript

The following transcript is from an Apologetics 315 interview with Ron Rhodes. Original audio here. Transcript index here. If you enjoy transcripts, please consider supporting, which makes this possible.


BA: Hello, this is Brian Auten of Apologetics 315. Today’s interview is with Ron Rhodes. Ron is president of Reasoning from the Scriptures Ministries and author of over sixty books, including three silver medallion winners. He is a keynote speaker at conferences across the United States and he teaches cult apologetics at Veritas Evangelical Seminary, Dallas Theological Seminary, Talbot Seminary and Biola University among others.

The purpose of this interview is to learn from his work in apologetics dealing with cults and give his advice to Christian apologists. Well thanks for joining me for this interview today Ron.

RR: It’s my pleasure. Thanks for having me.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Terminology Tuesday: Necessary / Sufficient

Necessary / Sufficient: Distinction between logical or causal conditions.

In logic, one proposition is a necessary condition of another when the second cannot be true while the first is false, and one proposition is a sufficient condition for another when the first cannot be true while the second is false. Thus, for example: "I have a dog" is a necessary condition for "My dog has fleas," and "You scored ninety-five percent" is a sufficient condition for "You received an A."

In causal relations, a necessary condition for the occurence of an event is a state of affairs without which the event cannot happen, while a sufficient condition is a state of affairs that guarantees that it will happen. Thus, for example: the presence of oxygen is a necessary condition for combustion, and the flow of electrical current is a sufficient condition for the induction of a magnetic field.1

1. Philosophy Pages.

Sunday, January 19, 2014

James W. Miller on the Need for Apologetics

"There are those who wholly question the enterprise of Christian apologetics. They assert that God will call those whom he choses, and apologetics is just a distraction to the work of the Holy Spirit and the revelation of God. [...] The idea is prima facie nonsense. When a missionary travels to another country to proclaim the gospel, she learns the language of the people so as to communicate in terms that they understand. Apologetics is simply the language the secular world uses to talk about God. To say we shouldn’t practice a rational defense of the Christian faith is like saying the missionary need not study language, because the Holy Spirit can do whatever [He] wants." (1)

—James W. Miller
Author of Hardwired: Finding the God You Already Know

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Book Review: Christian Endgame: Careful Thinking About The End Times by Ken Samples

This reviewer writes quite often about the importance of internal theological discussions to apologists. Eschatology (end times) tends to be one of the most fascinating, heated, and damaging debates within the Church. As prophecy enthusiasts keep attempting to predict the date of Christ's return (and fail), it makes the Christian worldview appear to be falsified from the perspective of unbelievers. In order to address these challenges, it is important that Christians think carefully about eschatology. Kenneth Samples (Reasons to Believe) attempts to provide a starting point for responsible thought and discussion in his most recent book, Christian Endgame: Careful Thinking About The End Times.

This is a short book of only 59 pages divided into eight chapters, plus three appendices. This review will provide an abbreviated chapter-by-chapter summary in an effort to not give away all the content of the book.

Friday, January 17, 2014

Weekly Apologetics Bonus Links (01/10 - 01/17)

Here are this week's recommended apologetics links. Enjoy.
• Shopping via Amazon? If you use this link, a bit of your purchase goes to fund Apologetics 315. Thanks for those of you using the link, as it helps Ap315.
Canada here. UK here.

• Would you like to help with interview transcriptionIf so, contact Ap315 here.

Get these sorts of links and more by following on Twitter.
For daily post links, please follow on Facebook.

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Angus Menuge Interview Transcript

The following transcript is from an Apologetics 315 interview with Angus Menuge. Original audio here. Transcript index here. If you enjoy transcripts, please consider supporting, which makes this possible.


BA: Hello. This is Brian Auten of Apologetics 315. Today I interview Dr. Angus Menuge, professor of philosophy at Concordia University. He is author of Agents Under Fire: Materialism and the Rationality of Science and many articles on the philosophy of mind, philosophy of science and Christian apologetics. He’s the editor of several collections of essays on C.S. Lewis, Christ in culture, and the scientific vocation.

The purpose of this interview is to find out a bit more about Dr. Menuge, his work in the area of philosophy of mind, the ontological argument from reason, and his advice for Christian apologists.

Well, thanks for taking the time to speak with me today, Angus.

AM: Thank you for having me, Brian.

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Terminology Tuesday: Necessary / Contingent

Necessary / Contingent: Distinction between kinds of truth. Necessary truth is a feature of any statement that it would be contradictory to deny. (Contradictions themselves are necessarily false.) Contingent truths (or falsehoods) happen to be true (or false), but might have been otherwise. Thus, for example:

"Squares have four sides." is necessary.
"Stop signs are hexagonal." is contingent.
"Pentagons are round." is contradictory.

This distinction was traditionally associated (before Kant and Kripke) with the distinctions between a priori and a posteriori knowledge and the distinction between analytic and synthetic judgment. Necessity may also be defined de dicto in terms of the formal logical property of tautology.1

1. Philosophy Pages.

Sunday, January 12, 2014

William Abraham on Christianity and Worldview

"Religious belief should be assessed as a rounded whole rather than taken in stark isolation. Christianity, for example, like other world faiths, is a complex, large-scale system of belief which must be seen as a whole before it is assessed. To break it up into disconnected parts is to mutilate and distort its true character. We can, of course, distinguish certain elements pin the Christian faith, but we must still stand back and see it as a metaphysical system, as a world view, that is total in its scope and range."

—William Abraham

"Soft Rationalism," in Philosophy of Religion: Selected Readings, 2nd ed., ed. Michael Peterson et al., p. 99.

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Book Review: Evangelical Faith and the Challenge of Historical Criticism

Reading this book review will be challenging–and possibly frustrating for some–because it addresses topics rarely addressed in evangelical circles. Although it does not appear as such, this is a work of apologetics. It aims to defend the results of historical criticism against evangelicals who fear its conclusions.

The book aims to challenge evangelical students, pastors and scholars to consider the implications of historical criticism for their faith. Throughout the volume, the various authors address major issues such as the historicity of Adam & Eve, the historical reliability of the Exodus tradition, pseudopigraphy in the Bible, revised prophecies and the historical Jesus. The chapters seek to address how best to engage and accept the outcomes of critical scholarship, and whether to actively pursue critical scholarship as evangelicals.

Friday, January 10, 2014

Weekly Apologetics Bonus Links (01/03 - 01/10)

Here are this week's recommended apologetics links. Enjoy.
• Shopping via Amazon? If you use this link, a bit of your purchase goes to fund Apologetics 315. Thanks for those of you using the link, as it helps Ap315.
Canada here. UK here.

• Would you like to help with interview transcriptionIf so, contact Ap315 here.

Get these sorts of links and more by following on Twitter.
For daily post links, please follow on Facebook.

Thursday, January 09, 2014

How do you know that Christianity is the one true worldview? by Ravi Zacharias


Enjoy this video by Ravi Zacharias (RZIM) on the question: How do you know that Christianity is the one true worldview? Exclusivity is one of the most popular charges leveled against the Christian faith. Here, author and apologist Ravi Zacharias and RZIM speaker John Njoroge challenge the assumption that Christianity is alone in making exclusive claims.

Wednesday, January 08, 2014

Ken Boa Interview Transcript

The following transcript is from an Apologetics 315 interview with Ken Boa. Original audio here. Transcript index here. If you enjoy transcripts, please consider supporting, which makes this possible.


BA: Hello, this is Brian Auten of Apologetics 315. Today’s interview is with Dr Ken Boa, President of Reflections Ministries, an organisation that seeks to encourage, teach and equip people to know Christ, follow Him, become progressively conformed to His image and reproduce His life in others.

Ken is also an author of a number of books, including Twenty Compelling Evidences that God Exists, Faith Has its Reasons – Integrative Approaches to Defending the Christian Faith and Conformed to His Image – Biblical and Practical Approaches to Spiritual Formation.

The purpose of this interview is to gain some insights into Ken’s views on apologetics, his advice on reading and learning, being a lifelong learner, the value of the classics, as well as his advice to budding Christian apologists.
Well, thanks for joining me for this interview, Ken.

KB: Well, thank you. Good to be with you.

Tuesday, January 07, 2014

Terminology Tuesday: Miracles

Miracle: An event brought about by a special act of God. There is much disagreement about the definition beyond this minimum. Some thinkers argue that a miracle must involve an exception to the laws of nature or (perhaps alternatively) involve some event that exceeds the natural powers or capacities of natural things. Others insist that a miracle is recognizable primarily by its revelatory power as a sign that shows something about God or God's purposes and that such events do not have to be scientifically inexplicable. Since David Hume's famous attack on miracles, the possibility of miracles and the kind of evidence needed for belief in miracles has been subject to debate. Traditional apologetics viewed miracles as important confirmation or certification that a prophet or apostle was genuinely sent by God.1

1. C.Stephen Evans, Pocket Dictionary of Apologetics & Philosophy of Religion (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002), p. 76.

Monday, January 06, 2014

Best Selling Apologetics Books of 2013

Back in 2011 and in 2012 I published blog posts based on statistics from the previous year's Amazon affiliate links: the Best Selling Apologetics Books of 2011 and the Best Selling Apologetics Books of 2012. This year we're doing it again, with both paper books and Kindle titles. Keep in mind that this list is only for books purchased via Apologetics 315's links.

The best-selling books of 2013 were Greg Koukl's excellent book Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions as well as the Kindle version of On Guard by William Lane Craig. Personally, I think Cold-Case Christianity by J. Warner Wallace deserves to be book of the year.

So here's the list of the 15 top-selling paper books through Apologetics 315 in 2013, based upon those purchased through Ap315's affiliate links:
  1. Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions
  2. Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels
  3. The 10 Most Common Objections to Christianity
  4. On Guard: Defending Your Faith with Reason and Precision
  5. Holman QuickSource Guide to Christian Apologetics (Holman Quicksource Guides)
  6. Is God Just a Human Invention? And Seventeen Other Questions Raised by the New Atheists
  7. They All Can't Be Right: Do All Spiritual Paths Lead to God?
  8. Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics
  9. I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist
  10. Why Do You Believe That? A Faith Conversation (Member Book)
  11. God Is Spirit (Volume 1)
  12. How to Stay Christian in College (Th1nk Edition)
  13. The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus
  14. Sticky Faith: Everyday Ideas to Build Lasting Faith in Your Kids
  15. Love Your God with All Your Mind: The Role of Reason in the Life of the Soul
And here's the list of the 20 top-selling Kindle books through Apologetics 315 in 2013:
  1. On Guard: Defending Your Faith with Reason and Precision
  2. Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels
  3. Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions
  4. The G. K. Chesterton Collection [34 Books!] (Illustrated Classics)
  5. A To Z With C. S. Lewis
  6. Come Let Us Reason: New Essays in Christian Apologetics
  7. Signature in the Cell
  8. The Grand Weaver: How God Shapes Us Through the Events of Our Lives
  9. Simply Jesus: A New Vision of Who He Was, What He Did, and Why He Matters
  10. How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth
  11. Surprised by Hope
  12. If God Is Good: Why Do We Hurt?
  13. The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus
  14. Holman QuickSource Guide to Christian Apologetics (Holman Quicksource Guides)
  15. Mere Christianity (C.S. Lewis Signature Classics)
  16. What Darwin Didn't Know: A Doctor Dissects the Theory of Evolution
  17. Mere Apologetics: How to Help Seekers and Skeptics Find Faith
  18. The Rage Against God: How Atheism Led Me to Faith
  19. The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
  20. Heaven: Biblical Answers to Common Questions (booklet)
It was clear to me that many of the paper book sales were favoring those that may have been purchased in larger quantities for books studies. As for Kindle books, the ones that had been on sale in some way or which were heavily tweeted did very well.

What were your favorite books of 2013?
What are you planning on reading in 2014?

Sunday, January 05, 2014

Jill Carattini on Apologetics for Whom

“...When apologetics becomes something aimed to help us fight, or to help us feel secure, the gospel itself seems somehow lost in the battle. Sadly for many, the work of apologetics remains far more about ourselves than our neighbors, far more about the Christian arsenal than the love of God and creation. Subsequently, the gospel is not presented as good news, or even average news. On the contrary, the gospel is presented as something that proves: I am right."
(read more here...)


—Jill Carattini
Managing editor of A Slice of Infinity at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia. Excerpt from this article.

Saturday, January 04, 2014

Book Review: Divine Evil?: The Moral Character of the God of Abraham

For Christian apologists, the publication of Divine Evil?: The Moral Character of the God of Abraham and the 2009 conference that gave birth to this volume together constitute an exciting development. Since September 11, 2009, the so-called “New Atheists” have not been shy about their objections to the moral atrocities committed in the name of religion throughout history. Among these moral atrocities are apparently evil commands issued by Yahweh in various Old Testament passages. But despite this persistent New Atheist critique, a thorough response from the apologetics community has not been immediate. When Paul Copan’s Is God a Moral Monster? appeared in 2011, he wrote in his first chapter that “Despite the strong intellectual response to the New Atheism, one area left unaddressed is that of Old Testament ethics.”[1] Copan’s book was a long-awaited and important step in addressing this neglected area. Although Divine Evil? first appeared around the same time and addresses the same subject as Copan’s book, it has something different to offer. The editors, Michael Bergmann, Michael J. Murray, and Michael C. Rea, have produced a scholarly discussion of the character of the God of Abraham that offers an opportunity for some of the greatest minds in the philosophy of religion to directly interact on the salient Old Testament[2] passages. While discussion of these passages has long existed in other fields, in Divine Evil? we finally see the attention of contemporary Christian philosophers turning more fully to this important dispute.

Friday, January 03, 2014

Weekly Apologetics Bonus Links (12/27 - 01/03)

Here are this week's recommended apologetics links. Enjoy.
• Shopping via Amazon? If you use this link, a bit of your purchase goes to fund Apologetics 315. Thanks for those of you using the link, as it helps Ap315.
Canada here. UK here.

• Would you like to help with interview transcriptionIf so, contact Ap315 here.

Get these sorts of links and more by following on Twitter.
For daily post links, please follow on Facebook.

Free Apologetics Bible Inserts from J. Warner Wallace

J. Warner Wallace, author of Cold Case Christianity, former detective, member of Stand to Reason, and a "one dollar apologist," continues to supply a steady stream of helpful resources through his website ColdCaseChristianity, his podcast, blog, twitter feed, and through speaking. (He's my first recommendation for a guest speaker at a church or event.) And here's one of Jim's many resources he offers at his website: Apologetics Bible Inserts. Topics include:
• Evidence for the Deity of Jesus
• Evidence for the Resurrection
• Evidence for God's Existence
• Evidence for the Reliability of the Old Testament
• and more...
You can check out the Apologetics Bible Inserts and download them here.
Enjoy.

Thursday, January 02, 2014

Mike Felker Interview Transcript

The following transcript is from an Apologetics 315 interview with Mike Felker. Original audio here. Transcript index here. If you enjoy transcripts, please consider supporting, which makes this possible.


BA: Hello. This is Brian Auten of Apologetics 315. Today I am speaking with Mike Felker. Mike is a Christian who blogs on apologetics. And one of his special interest areas in apologetics has been interaction with Jehovah’s Witnesses, both in a personal context and online. The purpose of our interview today is to explore some of the beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses, the doctrines of the Watchtower Tract & Bible Society, and how Christians can better approach the task of communicating to those within this group.
Well, thanks for joining me for this interview, Mike.

MF: Thanks, Brian. It’s good to be with you.

Wednesday, January 01, 2014

Essential Apologetics PowerPoint Series Free

In partnership with The PowerPoint Apologist, Apologetics 315 presents a series of 12 Free PowerPoint presentations, covering 12 essential topics in apologetics.

These are free to download, modify, and use for your own apologetics presentations. (However, please retain the final two slides featuring the PowerPoint Apologist and Apologetics 315 resources.)

Here are all of the PowerPoint files in one place:
  1. "Why Apologetics?" - PPT | Slideshare
  2. "Why Believe Anything?" - PPT | Slideshare
  3. "Why God?—part 1: A First Cause" - PPT | Slideshare
  4. "Why God?—part 2: An Intelligent Cause" - PPT | Slideshare
  5. "Why God?—part 3: A Moral Cause" - PPT | Slideshare
  6. "Why Scripture?—A Defense of the New Testament" - PPT | Slideshare
  7. "Why Jesus?—The Historical Jesus" - PPT | Slideshare
  8. "Why Jesus?—The Resurrection of Jesus" - PPT | Slideshare
  9. "Why Jesus?—The God-Man Jesus" - PPT | Slideshare
  10. "Why Christianity?—In An Evil World" - PPT | Slideshare
  11. "Why Christianity?—In A Pluralistic World" - PPT | Slideshare
  12. "Why Christianity?—In My World" - PPT | Slideshare
PPT = PowerPoint File
Slideshare = Online Slideshare Presentation

Enjoy.

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